The numerical relativity breakthrough for binary black holes

Abstract The evolution of black-hole (BH) binaries in vacuum spacetimes constitutes the two-body problem in general relativity. The solution of this problem in the framework of the Einstein field equations is a substantially more complex exercise than that of the dynamics of two point masses in Newtonian gravity, but it also presents us with a wealth of new exciting physics. Numerical methods are likely to be the only way to compute the dynamics of BH systems in the fully nonlinear regime and have been pursued since the 1960s, culminating in dramatic breakthroughs in 2005. Here we review the methodology and the developments that finally gave us a solution of this fundamental problem of Einstein's theory and discuss the breakthroughs' implications for the wide range of contemporary BH physics.

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